Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything (Bonus Track Version)

While this bristling quartet feels like a number of Welsh bands that are all caffeine, angles, and elbows-to-the-head energy, it actually hails from England. Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything is the group's third full-length release, and it now finds balance in its chaos, a degree of wisdom derived from youthful growing pains. It's an exhilarating ride, with sharp, amusing lyrical observations in both its introspective, pillowy moments and in the bursts of breath-stealing exuberance. There are a number of familiar threads holding the band's sound together: "If I'm the Most Famous Boy" tumbles over itself like a Pavement tune battling Dananananaykroyd, and quite a few songs—"What Drummers Get" and "With Who, Who"—are all effervescent Los Campesinos!–style clatter. However, Johnny Foreigner scratches an itch to reach out in other directions; songs like the jammy "Supermorning," the bubbly, glockenspiel-loaded "Don't Show Us Yr Fangs," and the sweetly sappy, boy-girl lament of the title track reveal a band wisely pushing the boundaries of a well-worn but much-loved genre.